He started writing songs for this album six years ago, and then went back into the studio a couple of years ago.

"Over the course of the last six or seven months is when I hunkered down and got them done," McGihon said.

While depression is the reason for his hiatus from making music, it's also the reason he found himself returning to it. Music, he said, is something to which he can anchor himself.

For him, music and depression run parallel to each other and never intersect; he's either focused on his state of mind or on his music.

"The times of being really inspired, I really harness them, and hold on as hard as I can to get them all out and recorded and done. Then I can exhale," he said.

Music has been a constant in McGihon's life. His grandfather was a fiddler of note, while his mother was a member of the Goodberry Sisters, who used to perform on a local television station and earned a lifetime achievement award from the Gospel Music Association of Canada. Every time there was a family gathering, his relatives would always arrive with guitars in hand.

He learned to play the guitar when he was 10 and first stepped onto a stage when he was 17. He later cut his touring teeth on a couple of stints with a tribute band and would later start his own bands, with him singing as well as playing guitar. There was Flood, which started as a Christian rock band and was once nominated for a GMA Canada nomination in the alternative rock category. Flood, however, would eventually fold and be reincarnated as Lacklustre. When that band dulled, McGihon spent about four years as the lead singer for a local cover band, but that, too, came to an end. That's when depression gripped him tighter, he said.

"It just came along at that time, and now it's something I push through it every day," said McGihon, who is getting professional help in addressing his issues.

While he has found the will to record again, the idea of performing his songs still causes him anxiety, he said.

"I do think about it, but when it comes down to doing it, I just know it's not my time," he said.

"I have to really, instead of admitting defeat, I have to see it as I just cannot do it. Hopefully in the near future I'll be back in the swing."

He hasn't forgotten the "wonderful feeling" performing elicits, and feels the day will come when he wants to step behind a microphone again.

"But until that moment really shows itself to be a real thing, I won't move on it," he said. "I may have to push myself a little bit, but everything's a push."

Still, he's happy that he's at least been able to take a step forward with the release of Paisley (which can be found on Spotify and Apple Music), and feels the songs are some of the best he's ever written.

"So this album has helped me, in a way, feel like I've accomplished something, and with the state of depression, you're constantly up against yourself in a battle of challenges and wits to feel like you're worth something, that you belong somewhere.

"Getting this finally done took a lot of work, took a lot out of me, but I did it," he said, his face breaking into a grin. "Chalk one up for Derek."